Paul Ince: Wolves should be making top six or seven after Matheus Nunes signing

The former midfielder has been left impressed by Wolves’ capture of Nunes, after the club spent £38million – potentially rising to £42million – to bring him to Molineux.

Now, Ince believes Wolves should be challenging for Europe after bolstering their options.

He said via BoyleSports Football Odds: “Matheus Nunes is a good player but it’s a lot of money for him. They needed someone fresh in midfield because Joao Moutinho is getting on a bit and Ruben Neves’ future is still unknown.

“Nunes can play forward, get himself a goal and can play with both feet and under Bruno Lage, Wolves are more expansive so I think they’ll be OK. If they go and spend that money on a player of Nunes’ ilk then they need to be finishing in the top six or seven.”

Pedro Neto has been linked with a move away to Arsenal in the last week, as the London club hold a firm interest in the winger.

However, Wolves have no desire to let him leave this month, and Ince believes the club must keep hold of Neto if they are to make that European charge.

He added: “I watched Pedro Neto a couple of years ago and said that he is a top three player. He could play for the likes of Man City and Liverpool.

“Now that he’s back playing regularly after injury, Wolves can challenge for European places and they’ll need to keep Neto in order to do that. The only reason they should sell him is if they want to balance the books after signing Nunes and I do believe Neto can play at the very highest level.”

Meanwhile, Matija Sarkic hopes he impressed head coach Bruno Lage after making his senior Wolves debut.

The goalkeeper played the 2-1 Carabao Cup win over Preston on Tuesday night and is now targeting more.

He said: “I see it as stepping blocks (in my journey), it’s a pathway you create for yourself to get to where you want to be. It’s like work experience in any other job. Last season was part of that, unfortunately it was cut short, but they’ve given me the nod to be backup and I’m not going to disappoint.

“The plan is to have a cup run, I want to play as many games as possible, be that in the cups or as the first choice. This is my opportunity to show myself and showcase what I can do, so hopefully that will impress the manager and put pressure on him to make a decision or not, that’s part of football. My ambition’s to play as first choice.”